Space Dragons Lambast Alameda
120 kilometres above planet Earth (75 miles), the flock of creatures known as space dragons begins to enter Earth's atmosphere. Discovered approximately months ago by a joint EDC, Decepticon, and Autobot team, it did not take long for the Decepticons Geist to investigate them, and for Soundwave to exploit them. Scanners on and orbiting Earth will indicate there is precisely 159 of the monsters, ranging from 4-7 metres. One, far larger than the others, is at least the height of a Transformer Gestalt. Although the world militaries are initially unsure about the final destination of the monsters, calculating their trajectory and velocity, it becomes clear that they are seeking the western coast of the United States. Specifically, San Francisco. Specifically, Alameda - Earth Defence Command Headquarters. Across the Terran base, alarms sound and troopers are roused to battle stations. Decepticon Soundwave says, "Decepticons, it is time. The alien creatures have chosen to attack Alameda. We shall go there, but remember: Barring unforeseen events, we shall wait for a victor before we attack." Decepticon The Creepy One, Sunder says, "I shall relish the sight of humans and Autobots alike getting slagged by those beasts." Decepticon Catechism says, "Fine by me, sir." Decepticon Soundwave says, "Alternative solutions are few." Decepticon Fusillade says, "TOWs would be nice." Decepticon Geist says, "Indeed they are." Alameda Alameda, formerly the site of the Naval Air Station and the associated Marine base, is now home to the newly formed EDC and its massive launching, recovery and repair facilities. The city seems to have adapted to the change rather well. The carriers, cruisers and destroyers formerly tied up alongside the piers have been replaced with hyper-sonic fighter craft, interplanetary interceptors and shuttles of all varieties, but the servicemen never change. The towers and hangars of the EDC shine brightly in the sun. Exo-Suit Aya Jones� was lingering behind, all suited up and ready to take the dragon out of here. She was a little behind but hustling to catch up. She didn't know the person holding the dragon's cage she did know Willy though and the way he was talking surly wasn't going to make a new person feel very welcome. Eh what could she do anyway, she came up lifting a side of the cage " I'll give ya a hand with that." Decepticon Soundwave says, "Too many voices..." Decepticon Sixshot says, "Explain." Decepticon Catechism could be concerned. "Are you all right, sir?" Speaking of those who have followed, there is a very familiar gleam of lime-green in the sky. Bonecrusher is there to engage in dragonwatching. Decepticon Fusillade says, "Too many voices, plus three now." Decepticon Sixshot says, "What?" Decepticon Soundwave says, "Explanation difficult. Imagine the entire horde of aliens screeching in your ear." Decepticon Sixshot says, "What kind of aliens." Decepticon Fusillade says, "Well he was complaining about voices, and it prompted everyone else to start talking" Sweepcraft Geist is also holding off in the general vicinity of Soundwave, scanning the area. A faint mutter can be heard from the craft as his sensors pick up the approaching signatures. Decepticon Sixshot says, "I had to discern if I needed to kill him for the good of all." Decepticon Sixshot says, "I don't trust his mind magic." Decepticon Reflector says, "Highly advanced electronics, Sixshot, not 'magic'." Decepticon Geist says, "Total count:� 159 "moon dragons" on approach to Alameda, the gestalt-sized mother among them.� This shouldn't take too long." Decepticon Sixshot says, "Some write their spells in silicon, Reflector. I hold one who can read the thoughts of others at arm's length." Decepticon Sixshot says, "Especially when he acts suspicious. Soundwave is a dangerous and competent machine, I do not wish to see him co-opted and made into our enemy." Decepticon Soundwave says, "Magic: Nonexistant. Furthermore, you appear to be lagging behind current events, Sixshot." Sweepcraft Sunder is hovering high in the sky near his wingsib, watching for the horde of Space Dragons to descend upon the human base. His sensors are on high-alert, and he doesn't want to be mistaken for the prey--at least, as the Decepticons had intended. Decepticon Sixshot says, "Affirmative, none have appeared worthy of my attentions." Decepticon Reflector says, "Some people believe that cameras eat the souls of those whose pictures they take..." Geist transmits a message via radio. Sunder receives a radio transmission. Decepticon Soundwave says, "A telling failure on your part, Sixshot. This is a critical battle." Geist receives a radio transmission from Sunder. Decepticon Sixshot says, "Since I'm not involved, I find a reason to doubt your assessment, Soundwave." Decepticon Sixshot says, "Which pile of rocks are we conquering today?" Sunder transmits a message via radio to Geist. Sunder receives a radio transmission from Geist. B-1B Lancer loiters off the coast, skimming the beaches and rattling the windows of their upscale offices and homes. The sands have been cleared once the alert that the dragons were approaching went out. There's a mild vane of boredom quivering through her long, slender wings, and she banks again, low enough that her engine wash sends scouring vortices of sand behind her hematite and alabaster mass. Warthog 3865 Mode Hurried and accused of being genderless the Warthog's pilot peers crossly at the view screen which william inhabits. That one was -not-- getting a hug! Where there are harsh people in the world there seems to be just as many kind ones aswell a Ares stepping up to help him with his burden even as a fledgling dragon decends and scratches at Ion's heavily armored shoulder module. "My thanks to you" responds the other pilot awkwerdly as he swats at the little creature with the Warthog's fist. More shoulders to bear the burden now Ion throtles up the suit's pace increasing as he heads up the loading ramp of the prepaired shuttle. Soundwave can't really tell what's going on over at Alameda. Listening is his forte', not seeing! So, he turns to the assembled Decepticons, putting a hand to the side of his head as he transmits, "Reconnaissance required. Mission: Determine EDC response to alien threat." Decepticon Sixshot says, "This is Sixshot. I've completed FTL translation, beginning investigation of Pandoran system." Decepticon Soundwave says, "The target is Alameda. My operation earlier was in preparation for this moment." Decepticon Sixshot says, "I remember a time when we/zhhshssszzz/ referred to ou-- ---quests by planet, and not city, Soundwave." Decepticon Sixshot says, "Do not underest---- --- --mans, they are more resi--- then you --ve th-- credit f--...." Decepticon Soundwave says, "Indeed. However, this planet of particular importance. We shall expect a report on the Pandoran system." Decepticon Sixshot says, "static" The Terran troops obey William Greathawk's orders however PC they may be. Ion Tzil'macht is without a doubt the initial target. The animal inside the cage angrily shakes and rattles the sides of its prison in a futile effort to break free. At least two dozen space dragons swarm towards Ion's Warthog, screaming and clawing. Return fire from the EDC troopers begin tearing many of them to shreds, and Ion only needs to hold out for several seconds of excruciating pressure is quickly relieved as the animals, seemingly shocked that now /everyone/ is fighting back against their simple desire of ripping apart Ion's Warthog and killing the fleshy thing inside, are forced to spread out and engage the Terrans proper. Several of them dive bomb into a group of ARES Exo-Suits. One of the larger dragons lands with a loud THUD right between Ion and the loading ramp into the Terran shuttle. Hissing angrily, the space dragon reaches out with its claws, trying to smash the Nebulon to the ground. Elsewhere, the rest of the dragons have gotten the idea that all of the EDC troopers are going to fight back against them, and begin attacking not only Ion, but EDC HQ as well. To an experienced soldier like Ion or William, it seems likely that the humans will be able to prevail against these creatures, though the cost may be high. The mother dragon, meanwhile, is circling above the battlefield, angrily planning her own strike as she casts a foreboding shadow on those below whenever she passes by. Decepticon Sixshot says, "---peat... You want me to do wh-- The material cl---r here is ----fering my ---io" Exo-Suit Aya Jones transmits a message via radio. William receives a radio transmission. Decepticon Bonecrusher watches the dragons! "They're pretty lively..." Catechism flies high. She's less than a speck, likely, and with al the dragons in the air, she may not even be distinguishable. She watches both the dragons and the EDC. Hey, Soundwave wanted the 'cons to watch how the EDC handled the dragons. She doesn't expect them to crack out the cookies. William transmits a message via radio. Exo-Suit Aya Jones receives a radio transmission. A-10 Thunderbolt Powerglide slowly flies in an extremely wide arc around the 100+ flock o' doom. Times like this he doesn't like being one of the few aerial Autobots. Where the hell is Superion when you /really/ need him?! Powerglide transmits a message to EDC HQ, who will reroute the transmission to one of the others. Probably William. "Yo, Powerglide reporting in. Just tell me where to form up and I'll start kicking ass with ya." Glide wishes to wait until some Shrikes are in the air to form up with. There are many Iriquois curses that escape William's lips at this moment. He's not a commander, he's a scout. And while he is experienced in battle, his mind has never been the tool that it should have been when it comes to strategy. But this is the hand he's been dealt, and he's out of chips, so he's going to play it. Turning back to the base doors, he hits his subdermal again. "Lock it down. Base defenses to auto. All combat able personnel to battlestations." He looks to the sky one last time. They're not animals he's familiar with, but they're animals none the less. And since he's able to communicate with animals in two seperate dimensions, he figures that he'll give it a try here. He sprints over to the now landed creatures and holds out his hands. "Calm yourselves, my friends. We are simply trying to help return your youngling to you." Exo-Suit Aya Jones looks up, around then kinda to william.... " I didn't mean try and negotiate!.." Aya is obviously unaware of Willys awsome talk with the animals ability and currently thinks he's more nuts than usual. " Thank me later right now we have to worry about big momma there," she thumbs toward the large interception infront of Ion. The others were realitivly small fries even if the fries had claws and the such. Decepticon Soundwave says, "Decepticons, the EDC already anticipates victory. We shall disrupt their battle plans. Begin by attacking their perimeter defenses." B-1B Lancer moves forward, taking careful note of how far that shrilling, writhing flurry of wings, lashing tails, and snapping jaws extends out, but finds nothing to add to the other's initial reports. The matriarch's silhouette blots out the sun, and the Lancer finds her attention drawn upward. "Hmmm..." She pulls up, taking her sweet time approaching the grumbling mother, drifting in from the right and alongside, about three wingspans distant. However, as another directive sounds out, she peels off in a flash of glossy white wingflaps and ailerons. The more cumbersome Warthog units come into view, and she snaps off a half dozen Gator anti-personnel/anti-vehicle mines, adding an additional hazard to anyone or thing stomping about that section of pavement. Sweepcraft Geist alters course from his perimeter scanning pattern, angling downwards towards the EDC perimeter defenses. "Sunder, take right flank," he radioes his wingsib. "I'll take the left." And moments later, his weapons emplacements open fire on the perimeter defenses. Nothing like a little extra chaos to add to the carnage. "Acknowleged" Sunder replies, and streaks towards the defenses on the right hand side, opposite of where his wingsib is striking. He lets loose with a blast of plasma and machine gun, hoping to disable the humans' defenses to the point where the balance would be tipped in favor of the dragons...at least for awhile. Catechism dive-dive-dives, plummeting like a rock. She... actually targets the ferry to Alameda with her rockets, rather than the base proper. Catechism figures that plenty of Decepticons will go after the actual base. She wants to remove easy access to the place, which will slow rebuilding. Soundwave follows behind his comrades, though his descent is slow. He feels reluctant to plunge into that screaming morass... it's gnawing at his mind. "Be silent...," he quietly mutters, as he clutches at his head. Warthog 3865 Mode weathered the dragon's assault claws tails and smashing of his suit jilting and jaring him this way and that. He's alright however. the Warthog's tough and durable. beyond a bruise he receives from getting bounced around in the cockpit he's alright.. and reminded to strap in. When faced with the larger creature Ion cannot help but marvel at it's size never befor had he seen an organic life form of it's preportions.. To bad it was trying to crush him flat otherwise it appeared quite majestic. Hot footing it oout of the way with a sudden burst of manuevering thrusters Ion piloted his machine from bad to bad the Warthog's heavy foot planting on one of Fusillade's mines the ensueing blast toppling the suit over the dragon's cage pitched from it's arms and tumbling away.. mercifuly just out of the proximity of the new mine field. Bonecrusher is not a large bomber, or even very nimble in the air. Thus, he stays well away from the largest dragon and the thickest of the fray, seeking for a more convenient target. Several of the smaller aliens flap their wings angrily on the ground as William sprints over and holds out his hands. The creature stares at the ex-Militant with their beady optics. It is difficult to tell if they understand what he is saying, or if they think he's freaking nuts. After a several second pause, one of them lunges forward with its long neck, trying to take a bite out of William's outstretched hands. CHOMP! A pair of other ones take off and fly away, rejoining the rest of the pack. As the Decepticons make their approach, the mother dragon cranes her neck and watches them, apparently surprised to see their presence here. After glaring at Fusillade for several seconds, she turns back to watching her children fight against the EDC troopers, apparently ignoring the Decepticons for now as Fusillade fires at several Warthogs. The EDC perimeter defences now has Sweep trouble as well to deal with, and several tanks and anti-aircraft weaponry are focusing on them. The humans have the advantage in that they can shoot just about /anywhere/ and hit /something/ bad. The well-armoured ferry, meanwhile, takes several rocket blasts and begins to drift. Meanwhile, as Ion accidentally steps on one of Fusillade's mines and is sent tumbling away, the large dragon on the shuttle's ramp roars and reaches forward, awkwardly trying to slash open the cage. It's larger than the one inside, and soon will be able to break it free. "Powerglide reporting. Decepticon troops spotted incoming!... in case you didn't notice. I'm going to see about forming up on the closest Shrike squadron I can." Powerglide transmits even as he banks away from the incoming Decepticon horde. The minibot doesn't have to wait long before the intrepid Shrikes are in the air. Despite the sheer hazard that is flying through the air without a Decepticon insignia on, the EDC pilots work with the professionalism they're known for, and it isn't long before Powerglide and the EDC Shrikes are engaging in cautious dogfights with the swarm of space dragons. Exo-Suit Aya Jones� Ion went bouncing the larger dragon was on top of the cage. She had wanted to let the damn thing out and was told No by Mister Talk with the Animals and carry a large Axe! She shifted some and seen how well negotiations with the animals were going for William. " Crazy ass men." she half grumbled and looked to the dragon trying to free the younger one,well she could sit there and watch the thing rip open the cage potentaly hurt the baby and then get hella more pissed. Or she could risk some damage and open the cage let the dragon out and...she shook her head " I'm going to help the big dragon get the baby out." and with that she headed over towards the very large pissed off dragon who was trying to get the cage open. William is keenly aware that his hand is in danger. So, he does what anyone would do and jumps backwards. Barely missing a landmine, the Militant looks to the retreating dragons. He knows they understood him. He just needs to get through to the one in charge. But, since he can't fly (stupid miscalculating CP), he'll have to wait on that one. He hits his subdermal and calls out, "Take them down. Shoot to kill." The base weapons, which were evidentally just shooting to shoot much like Stormtroopers in Star Wars, finally begin to take on real targets. For his part, William does the Steele thing and suits up. Pulling out his two pistols, pop guns in comparrison to the things his fighting, he takes aim and opens up on the dragon trying to eat the cage. William's tribal bands suddenly start expanding to cover his body. The band on his neck reveals sections form fitted to his head, while the band on his waist expands to form the chest armor. The bands on his wrists and ankles cover his arms and legs in a burst of sudden motion that has only been seen in the movies. Exo-Suit Michael Briar stands in the command tower watching all of this going on. Behind him stands the Glaive II looking ready for a fight. Briar won't fight this time around however. He has other plans. He clicks on his com and talks into it before looking at the two rather teenage looking command and control crew. One of them says, "Sir, Privates Tzil'macht and Jones are moving out with the package." Michael nods and says, "I'm stepping out...alert ground forces to continue their defense maneuver. Keep those dragons and cons occupied until the creature is secured on the shuttle. Alert Private Tzil'macht and Private Jones that I'm coming to assist." One of the more attractive girls says, "Yes sir!" then starts speaking into her com mic. "Autobots and ground forces, continue divirsionary assult. Privates Tzil'macht and Jones, General Briar is coming to assist you." she says before cutting off the connection. Michael slips his helmet on and climbs into his exo-suit as it comes to life with a dull whine of power generators. The suit steps into the elevador and quickly gets to the ground floor before blasting off into the air and towards the two EDC troopers. The auto defeneces come on line with rail and laser cannons sending yellow and red beams of big bang light into the sky at botht he dragons and cons. A few clouds of missiles launch off into the the hordes of dragons exploding here and there, but probably doing little to them on such a massive scale. The report of the exploding mine and the rest of the firefights fills the air with cacophony, the acrid stench of seared dragon flesh wafting through on faintly rust-tinted clouds of steam. Magnesium tracer rounds punch through the air, scouring the skies for Decepticon armor to punch through, in addition to their newly acquired draconian targets. It's this unwanted attention that Fusillade suddenly finds an abundance of. A crackle of chaff flares out from her as she jinks to the side to avoid a high-caliber mortar round, but with the sheer saturation of the skies with ballistics and laser fire, it's not too long before rotating turret succeeds in pepepring her foreward fuselage and outright punching through one with with a barrage of shots. The bomber grunts, and drops slightly in altitude as she attempts to correct, a few streaks of smoke trailing behind the middle segment of her starboard wing. Bonecrusher exclaims, "Hey!" Not that he didn't expect the defences to be used, but it was easier when they weren't. He tries to do something about them. It almost pains him to shoot at those pretty shiny cannons, but someone has to do it. Soundwave wobbles in the air, clutching at his head. He tries to look forward and focus on the mission, but the voices are too many, and he can't shut them all out. "Be silent!..." he shouts. A heavy machine gun begins spraying at him, and, in comparison to what he's feeling through his mind, the armor-piercing rounds feel like little pinpricks. His mind foggy, he finds himself following the tracers to their source, plummeting towards the gun emplacement, right up until the gunner bails out of his machine and Soundwave plows right into it, knocking it off of its mount, and himself to the ground. He staggers up to one knee, but only barely. Warthog 3865 Mode Slowly clambors to it's feet one a battered mess of torn metal and exposed wires. Diagnostics warn him of the dangers of continueing battle in this mode.. as suc h there is only one thing to do "Ms. Jones Seekers be making troubles for our transport!" radios Ion as he reaches over and grabs a lever pulling it down from B past G and down to the V setting. His suit shifting and compressing forming into a tank that rides upon a cushion of air and anti-gravity. "I will be taking the care of dragon and whelp." he promises "We are needing to hold out for General Brair." with that he throttles fowerd passing harmlessly over the remaining mines as he careens towards the elder dragon opening up with a barrage of gatling lazer fire a triple barreld canon letting loose. Orders were to get the cage into the ship.. there was no garuntee that they would leave when the dragonet was released. Sweepcraft Geist banks away from the left flank of the perimeter defenses, angling around for another pass when he sees Soundwave go down. He mutters faintly to himself, then opens fire in front of Soundwave, trying to ensure that no one or nothing gets close enough to try and take him down. Warthog 3865 Mode folds each pod under itself and unfolds to lay down forming its hovertank mode. Decepticon Geist says, "*mutters*� Soundwave, you're growing more erratic by the moment, and you're painting the proverbial bulls-eye on yourself to be a target." Bonecrusher may not be 'erratic', exactly, but he isn't having an easy time either as he has to dodge fire from the gun emplacements while still trying to stay close enough to shoot back at them. Bits and pieces of his armour are getting scorched here and there, adding dark marks to the lime green. Decepticon Soundwave's words come out sounding slow and strained. "Silence the voices!" Decepticon Bonecrusher misunderstands. "Wasn't saying anything!" The space dragon that tried to chomp off William's hands stumbles forward, trying to chase William. It isn't particularly fast on the ground, however, and William will be able to stay ahead of it so long as he keeps sprinting. The dragon assaulting the cage, meanwhile, slashes into it once more, but before it can fully destroy the prison, receives numerous bullets. William's pistols tear into its leathery hide, quickly followed by the laser cannon barrage from Tzil'macht. The dragon awkwardly falls onto its back, bleeding on the shuttle's loading ramp, apparently dead. EDC defences meanwhile, as per William's request, stop firing like Stormtroopers and start aiming like Decepticons on shuttles. The anti-aircraft batteries fire exploding shell after exploding shell into the air, ripping apart numerous creatures with both the explosive force and flying shrapnel. One such shell explodes virtually on the mother dragon, who turns her head and seems to weather it relatively unharmed. The auto defences, including rail and laser cannons, blast apart many of the larger ones, and it is clear that the humans (and Nebulon) are gaining the upper hand after the initial push by the space dragon. Will the Decepticon presence mean the difference? Bonecrusher will certainly have an easy time of picking his targets. The mother, meanwhile, descends downwards, spreading its wings and casting a shadow across EDC HQ. Opening her mouth, she sprays a wide arc of acid, melting a missile launcher in its place. Exo-Suit Aya Jones transmits a message via radio to Michael Briar. Exo-Suit Michael Briar receives a radio transmission from Aya Jones. Exo-Suit Michael Briar sees his men...and women are in trouble and opens his engines wide clearing the mines easily and makes a beeline towards the shuttle. He hovers for a second looking at the situation and the dragon apperently dead on the ramp. Michael says with a calmness and confidence in his voice even though it's a bit rushed, "Negative, if we take off they'll follow us and leave the base alone. The baby is first on their, well, minds. Let's get this cage into the shuttle. We need to get moving yesterday." He grabs the bottom of the cage and starts lifting it hoping Jones will do the same. William is almost able to keep ahead of the dragon on his heels, except for the fact that he's running through a mine field. He starts to zig-zag through it, but as he finds an especially dense area, he pauses. And that's all the time the dragon needs to make a deadly swipe with it's claw. Were it not for his armor, William's back would be across the base. As he is armored, he is thrown into the air and, as he begins the falling part of his flight, he realizes that he's not clear of the mine field. He lands with a bang, and then another, and then another. His armor holds, but the former Militant is out of the fight. A-10 Thunderbolt Powerglide continues his flybys with one of the Shrike squads. The Autobot of Love can't help but notice as Fusillade starts streaking downwards from the sky towards the ground. "Yeah! Take that, ya dirty Decepticon!" he shouts after her, even though Fusillade might not be able to hear him. Powerglide appreciates it when his allies blow enemy planes out of the sky for him. He abruptly is forced to barrel roll away from the claws of one dragon, onto to run into the tail of another. One of his wings nearly gets clipped, and Glide quickly goes back to paying attention to the fight rather than taunting Decepticons. Exo-Suit Aya Jones lifts up the bottom of the cage and helps to put the cage into the shuttle. Stepping around the body of the larger dragon which was laying on the ramp " Yes Sir." somethign just didn't feel right to her.....might have just been the tacos she ate for lunch too. Warthog 3865 Mode rotates about once the dragon goes down he'd have rathered run it off.. but he didn't think it looked to willing to leave "I will be coverings" transmitted Ion to Jones and Briar. That's when he saw William go down.. and then up.. and then down again! When all was said and done Ion was forced to do little but lost Ares units were already on their waty to evac him. He was busy fuilling the air with laser fire trying to keep their enemies dragon and Decepticon alike off of the shuttle craft. Decepticon Fusillade steps up. "Decepticons, keep that shuttle from leaving -- disable it.� Soundwave, remove yourself from the base.� If you are unable to do so, we will assist. As the dragons slowly dwindle in number, it's easier for Soundwave to get his thoughts back in order. And so, he stands up, stomps over to the gun emplacement he knocked over, and lifts it up in front of him. His feet leave the ground slowly as he carries the emplacement with him, using it as a shield. Which turns out to be a good idea, as several missiles and bullets slam into it. Metal fragments fly off of it but Soundwave himself is left relatively unharmed. Decepticon Soundwave says, "Very well... I shall remove myself from the battlefield temporarily." Catechism flies off after the shuttle. Her rockets are running hot, leaving her racks as soon as she has a lock. She is perhaps a bit worried about Soundwave - mainly because he operated on her recently. Are her arms going to fall off? Was he crazy when he did that surgery? You transmit a message to Geist: Perhaps you would like to join me in eliminating the matriarch. Decepticon Scourge says, "How goes the mission?" Decepticon Bonecrusher says, "Still busy with those guns..." Decepticon Fusillade says, "The young dragons are falling to the base defenses." Sweepcraft Geist 's latest strafing run takes it past the shuttle, and he banks around to angle in at the left side of the shuttle. "Catechism," he radioes to the Seeker. "If you can take out the port engines--" The radio goes silent. "Oh, already ahead of me. Very well, I'll shut up now." He barrel-rolls away, barely acknowledging the signal received as he locks onto Mommy Moon Dragon. o O (Now, prey... now I will take you.) O o His weapon emplacements are unleashed, raining down on the mother as Geist attempts to target the matriarch's head. Decepticon Soundwave says, "Psychic presence interfering with my proper functioning." The dragon inside the cage struggles against the weakened cage, but ultimately can't break free. Aya Jones is able to lift up the cage and take it into the ship. Their numbers are seriously dwindling, even though damage to the EDC base is growing more and more extensive as time goes on. The dragons are one thing, but the addition of a Decepticon attack is something else altogether. After completing her strafing run, the mother space dragon flies over the base, snapping her neck in the direction of her caged baby. The mother descends down towards Aya, Ion, and their ARES escorts, SLAMMING down on top of the EDC Shuttlecraft with its huge talons. The entire shuttle lurches, and its well-fortified superstructure struggles to handle the weight of the mother dragon. Lowering her long neck, she /roars/ at Aya Jones from mere metres away. Its barbed tail rises up over its head. She is clearly planning to try to rip Aya apart within the next several moments. It surely would try, however, were it not for the sudden weapons barrage from Geist striking her about the head. The mother is more stunned and shocked at the sudden attack from a surprise assailant than she is hurt, and she roars her displeasure, trying to figure out which target she should tear apart first. After a few more scorch marks are added to her underside, Fusillade steadies herself, and sends off a few radios to try to shepard the scattered troops about, even as she tries to puzzle out the best way to bring the tape commander around, while still keeping as many of the fledglings alive to wreak havok as possible... although they too were dwindling in number. It's at this point that the Lancer sweeps wide, seeking some breathing room from all the angry air decorations, as she communicates with Geist. This time, she reorients herself with the apex of her nosecone pointed at her left rear flank, and with a burst of afterburners, before banking hard and with a display that would be ludricous for Terran craft, approaches hard and fast from behind, the chrome-like glisten of bared wingblade edges visble as she slashes past, aiming for the junction of wing and body. Exo-Suit Michael Briar narrows his eyes at the dragon which just showed up to ruin his day. He says, "Shit..." before pulling his plasma blade free with a snap and hiss of lightsaber like light. "...get the shuttle into the air!" he screams into the shuttle since he's still on the ramp. He leaps at the dragon giving the snout a upward slash with his plasma saber before flying upward into the air and away from the shuttle's ramp. "Common you big stupid beast...your kind must really hates me for some reason. Let's see how much you do!" he says hoping that the Momma has the same feelings about the Glaive II as the baby does. He just figures the things don't like red right now. From Warthog 3865 Mode, Ion Tzil'macht� was startled when things gradualy became more and more dark, dragging the stick back he turned the tank around to see the mother perched upon their escape craft, "Dear Hepzabath...." utters Ion as all hell breaks loose. Dragging that lever back upto B, the hovertank transforms, "Inside, inside now!" he warns, it was the plainest english he's spoken all day. Limping towards the ship, the warthog lays hands on the dead dragon's corpse, wrenching and pulling, trying to haul it's bleeding corpse off of the ramp so they could close the hatch and escape.. And then Briar engages the beast like some coked up knight, "Terrans are crazy.." murmuers the Nebulon. Exo-Suit Aya Jones didn't have much time to react to impending doom before the large beast that seemed to think that the shuttle was it's personal pearch was distracted, for a moment she is confused to why the sweeper craft shot at the thing to begin with then even more confused as Fusi attacks it as well. Eh it didn't matter she wasn't about to send thank you cards since they were the ones who brought the baby here to begin with. She moves as Briar barks out the order to get the shuttle up and attempts to do so, though the shuttle is not used to the added wieght of mommy dearest and the engines strain a bit as they push up against the wieght. " This...sucks." Soundwave watches from the air as Geist and Fusillade begin to attack the matriarch. Was this part of his plan? Weren't they supposed to hold off on killing that thing? He's not too sure anymore. All he knows is that the dragon queen there is the one making the most noise, and he's tired of listening to its insufferable mental screeching. "DIE," he intones, as he takes the ruined gun emplacement he was holding, spins it about several times, then launches it as if he was a discus thrower, aiming the jagged chunk of metal in the mother's general direction. Decepticon Bonecrusher says, "Wha, we're supposed to kill that thing now?" Decepticon Fusillade says, "They're not doing much good against the EDC, and the matriarch is interfering with Soundwave.� Focus your fire on the shuttle engines." Decepticon Bonecrusher says, "Will do." And the Constructicon does just that, trying to hit the shuttle engines and not be hit by a much-too-huge-for-his-taste chunk of dragon with a flailing tail and neck. Sweepcraft Geist 's ovoid form twists around as he streaks past the matriarch, then angles up, climbing with all the speed he can muster. He wants this creature dead: at this point, it's a matter of pride, and after a couple of resounding thrashings in the arena at New Crystal City, Geist has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Once he hits about 30,000 feet, the afterburners cut off, and he reorients himself via maneuvering thrusters while the momentum he built up carries him further upward. Then he kicks the afterburners back in, and he comes streaking down like a two-toned blue bullet. Targetting sensors lock in on the matriarch's head again, but he keeps accelerating as he descends, opening up again with another salvo of weapons fire. And still he keeps pouring on the speed. Someone, it appears, intends to ram the matriarch's head. Decepticon Geist says, "She goes down, her head is mine." Decepticon Fusillade says, "You stole my idea!" Decepticon Fusillade says, "Personally I was thinking of reaming her chest, but ehn. Whatever, just make sure that you don't hit the ground at full speed." Decepticon Scourge says, "As long as the target is terminated, the glory goes to all." Decepticon Scourge says, "As long as they helped." Decepticon Geist says, "Keep it pinned down, then." Decepticon Bonecrusher says, "I'm helping, I'm helping!" The mother dragon, suddenly under assault from numerous sides - including Geist's, which she never expected - is rocked. Briar leaps for the shuttle and swings his plasma saber, cutting deep into its leathery hide. Indeed she does hate Briar. Her entire flock hates Briar and the humans thanks to Soundwave's telepathic dickery. She spreads her rather magnificent wings even as Ion pushes the dragon corpse off the ramp and he and Aya board the shuttle. Indeed, said shuttle will likely not be able to take off with her on it. Thankfully, Fusillade rushes past at this exact instant, slashing into its left wing, right where it connects to the main body, ripping a deep cut and preventing her from chasing Briar in the air. She rears about to spray Fusillade with acid when Soundwave smashes her with a thrown gun emplacement, knocking her clean off the shuttle. Said EDC shuttlecraft would be easily able to take off, though as Bonecrusher hurls yet another into one of the engines, the ship's engine keeps making an odd clunking noise. With her flock getting blasted out of the sky all around her, the mother dragon stands up on her hind legs, making a valiant last stand. There are under fifty dragons left, and the number is dropping rapidly as the EDC troops continue to obliterate them. The mother takes what looks like a deep breath, spraying acid in Soundwave and General Brair's direction, leaving the shuttle for now. Trudging forward, she sweeps out with a claw, crushing a Warthog and knocking three ARES half a kilometre away from the battlefield. She turns, bleeding and angry, to dismantle the shuttle with its bare claws, when Geist, having dropped from 30k feet, slams into her with both weapons fire and his own hull, crushing the matriarch's head and causing her to hit the ground. The loudest voice in Soundwave's head goes silent. The flying chunk of metal closes in on the shuttle, mother dragon, Fusillade, and Geist. "SCATTER!" the bomber barks out as she peels off, not even looking behind her to see if her strike connected or not. The EDC fighters and weapons emplacements track her, and feeling the heat, she closes back on the shuttle, which the humans were less willing to shoot at. She opens up her disruptor to join Bonecrusher's assualt, the fluorescent purple rounds of ionized argon ripping into the housings of the shuttle engines, trying to keep it from gaining too much altitude. Bonecrusher shoots at what he can hit, barely able to see inbetween the rush whether it's a piece of shuttle or something else that's hopefully not Fusillade. Decepticon Soundwave says, "Alien matriarch terminated. Psychic presence greatly diminished. Remaining aliens are likely to panic and lose all cohesion." Mission accomplished. Great. Geist can be one happy camper... if it weren't for the fact that the front end of his sweepcraft mode just about crumpled up like an aluminum can as he bounces off wildly. He forces himself to transform, only to collide with the ground and skid several meters before finally coming to a stop. For several long seconds, there is no movement. Then, a clawed hand twitches, and with a groan, Geist slowly pulls himself up. He looks at the matriarch lying dead on the ground, and slowly starts to make his way towards the dead form, his rifle coming out as he sets it for precision-work. "That head is mine..." he murmurs somberly to no one in particular. It's almost like a mantra, driving the Sweep to keep moving until he finally approaches the corpse. He aims the rifle at the matriarch's neck, the precision laser-beam slicing slowly through the neck to behead the beast. With a flurry of shifting, twisting and contorting, the Sweepcraft transforms into Geist. Exo-Suit Michael Briar looks down at the dragon seeing it cut apart by the cons, then head stomped. He feels sorry for the wee beasty, but then again, survival of the fittest. He clicks out a radio message, "The dragon's been killed, all EDC forces still kicking, full attack on the cons. Let's repay their help by kicking their asses." He roars and charges down at Soundwave while cocking back his plasma saber before slicing it forward towards Soundwave with both hands clenched around the weapon. Warthog 3865 Mode Ion was surprised in the sudden change of orders but he wasn't about to question them. There was plenty of 'Cons on their base when there shouldn't be and he was about to try and correct that reappearing on the loading ramp his screens fix on Bonecrusher the perky little decepticon still bothering their engines. Without much to say in greeting Ion levels a targeting reticle on Bonecrusher's green hide and opens fire. a barrage of lasers released from his laser-mini-gun. Warthog 3865 Mode unfolds each pod under itself forming arms and legs, the nose folds down revealing a head which flashes its lone optic. Exo-Suit Aya Jones the shuttle has a large wieght lifted but Aya still can't get the shuttle to do what she needs it to do. Growling a slight as lights indicated damage to the rear thrusters of the shuttle, she shakes her head and continues trying to move the shuttle upwards, which it's going just slowly and hindered with the stress of the attack. " Probably lucky for you I didn't let ya out..." she comments towards the unhappy passanger in the back of the shuttle. Exo-Suit II misses Soundwave with its plasma saber slash attack. With the dragon flock either dead, dying, or fleeing upwards into the sky in confusion, the EDC troops and defensive emplacements, however battered they are, are more or less free to cut loose on the attacking Decepticons, which they do so with professionalism and the knowledge that Decepticons need shooting in their heart. Along with Briar, Ion Tzil'macht, and Aya Jones, Warthogs, ARES class Exo-Suits and EDC Shrikes aided by Power-Primus's Gift to Women-Glide begin shooting at any Decepticon they see. Decepticon Scourge says, "Mission Status?" Bonecrusher yelps as he is lasered, trying to dodge the best he can, but still feeling the sting of the shots every then and there. He's not the fastest of Decepticons, nor is he specifically adapted to fighting in flight. Decepticon Bonecrusher says, "Got the big dragon, but the EDC are on us now." Decepticon Fusillade says, "The mother is dead, the shuttle is compromised but still climbing. I'm lucky I'm still in one piece -- pulling out now myself." Decepticon Scourge says, "The EDC are attacking you? I shall want names. They will be punished. The objective has been accomplished, I trust that Soundwave will not have you lingering longer than neccessary." Soundwave is doused with a huge glob of acid, and his entire body seems to smoke as the dissolving substance burns away at his armor. He can only intone, "Grarrggghh!" as he's flung back. Numerous tracer rounds also find their way into him, thudding into his softened armor like it was mud. Although the death of the matriarch is quite a relief to him, it's small comfort to have plenty of PHYSICAL pain to replace it with. Nonetheless, the tape commander retains enough awareness of his surroundings to detect Briar rushing up at him, and Soundwave dodges him simply by flying up higher than him. "You survive this day, Michael Briar," Soundwave intones. "But remember, this is but one of many battles. It shall only get worse." "Find a fuel line!" Fusillade barks out at Bonecrusher as she struggles with the trio of Angels that have decended upon her. With them chewing on her tail, the Lancer hauls herself skyward, favoring her starboard wing, her port wing gleaming with the fluids of the slain moon dragon. Hearing Scourge's decree, and Soundwave's concession to Briar, her alto rings out, "Decepticons, retreat!", even as she blasts past Powerglide in the other direction, at near-Mach speeds. Decepticon Soundwave says, "Affirmative, Scourge. We shall withdraw." "Trying!" exclaims Bonecrusher, firing wildly at the shuttle as he tries to get into position for getting away. Fusillade begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Exo-Suit II, A-10 Thunderbolt Powerglide. Soundwave begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Scourge, Exo-Suit II, B-1B Lancer, Exo-Suit Jones, Warthog 3865 Mode, A-10 Thunderbolt Powerglide, Geist. From Warthog 3865 Mode, Ion Tzil'macht� keeps his finger down on the trigger, the weapon's power core slowly gathering access heat, it's bar on his hud creeping towards the red. He wasn't going to give BoneCrusher a inch. Continues and sustained fire blazed from the weapon's whirling trio of barrels, tracking the constructicon as he tried to find some nasty kink in the shuttles already battered armor. Geist finally finishes slicing through the neck, grabbing the head and hefting it in both arms. Then he lifts up slowly and heads away from the base, wincing from the punishment he's taken, as well as some of the incoming fire directed his way from assorted troops. Geist begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Scourge, Exo-Suit II, B-1B Lancer, Exo-Suit Jones, A-10 Thunderbolt Powerglide. Exo-Suit Michael Briar isn't going to say hold your fire this time. He lets the cons have it and as Soundwave starts leaving, he even gets a few shots in from his arm mounted rail cannon. Steading himself in the air he lifts the arm up and opens fire with several short bursts towards the decepticon. Several strands of yellow streaks dance across the air, hoping to nail Soundwave and do a bit more damage. Exo-Suit Aya Jones continues to push the shuttle to get it up and away from the Base. Ion and Briar could handle getting the Cons. Aya was more interested in reserving power to get the shuttle into space. Bonecrusher is blasted some more. The shots send him tumbling, but fortunately, that sends him away from the shuttle, just right to join the other Decepticons in a hasty retreat while he's still not too hurt to do so. Bonecrusher begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Scourge, Exo-Suit II, B-1B Lancer, Exo-Suit Jones, Warthog 3865 Mode, Soundwave, A-10 Thunderbolt Powerglide, Geist. Out of all the dragons of the 150+ that descended upon Alameda, only 3 make it back out of the atmosphere. One is badly wounded and will likely not make it far. The others are small, but still as healthy as one can imagine after having their family wiped out thanks to the Decepticons coercing them into attacking EDC HQ. Breaking out of the atmosphere slowly, they set their sights in a random direction and soar away. Back down at Alameda, inside the Terran Shuttle, the single fledgling that Geist captured weeks ago has stopped trying to break free of its battered cage. It lies down and curls up around its tail, unsure of what to do at this point. Decepticon Scourge says, "Excellent.� I will want a full report once you have received medical attention." Decepticon Geist says, "... I have the head..." Soundwave ascends up further, believing himself to be just out of range--and finding himself to be sorely mistaken as the slugs tear into him. His body is so badly damaged that the rounds tear off one of his arms, which plummets back down towards Alameda. Other shells hit him on the back and send him hurtling through the air, with Soundwave emitting a harmonized cry of frustration and pain until he is reduced to just a twinkling light in the sky. And so Team Rocket blasts off agaaaaiiiin.... From Warthog 3865 Mode, Ion Tzil'macht� will not stop firing, is his trigger jammed down?! Now, his finger's still snugly wrapped around it, the Warthog limping in idle pursuit of Bonecrusher, warnings ring in his ear but they go unheaded, Ion's gaze is cold and fixed on the lime green flying machine. Exo-Suit Michael Briar does a quick command and brings up a threat display. Most of the cons have bugged out or at the edge of weapons range. He stops firing his rail cannon and finally says sounding a bit sad, "EDC, cease fire." The Glaive II glides downward onto the ground crunching some ripped up rubble as he does. Michael looks at the damage and dragon bodies stewn about the base and wonders if they really did win this time around. Exo-Suit Aya Jones� manages to get the shuttle up she knows the shuttle will not make it round trip and for risk of doing more damamge she stops. Radioing to Briar " Sir This shuttle is too damamged to safely insure my return home I am far enough up, the poor little guy is all curled up in the cage, Should I try and let it go up here? The surviors can't be too far off..." Exo-Suit Michael Briar clicks on his radio, "Affirmative, let him go. Kick it out if you have too. We'll send a rescue shuttle up to you ASAP Private Jones. Good work getting that shuttle in orbit." He walks towards a medical team and starts helping with the wounded. From Warthog 3865 Mode, Ion Tzil'macht's finger finaly eases off the trigger of his control stick, the large metal mit doing the same, his gun going quiet save for the sound of the barrels rotating. Initiating a emergency heat dump, vents open up along the weapon's body, steam spewing out in a long hiss. Ion returns the weapon to it's magnalocked position befor he turns his attention to the base, that single optic sweeping the surroundings for a few short moments. "I.. I be having repairs started soonly" radioed Ion as he powered down his suit, climbing out to help with the clean up as soon as the suit knelt. Decepticon Scourge says, "Good" Decepticon Scourge says, "It will make a lovely trophy." Decepticon Geist says, "Bigger than the xenomorph. We need more trophy cases." Exo-Suit Aya Jones shifts from her seat moving over to the cage the door opened and everything secured so that she wouldn't go flying out the door her self." Alright little guy take care of your self." and with that she slid the cage to the door unlatching it and giving it a push out the door before closing up the doors again. She sits her self down her stomach growling loudly. " Oh hell I hope someone cames soon. I'm starving." The space dragon raises its neck in alarm as Aya approaches its cage. After what it's seen, it has no idea what she's going to do to it. The telepathic voices in his head, that were once so loud and comforting are only the faint whisper of his three surviving siblings. The creature doesn't move until Aya pushes it out the door, at which point it spreads its wings and awkwardly takes flight, rising upwards into space, seeking to meet up with its siblings again. From there, no-one knows where they will go. --End--